John Utley Tops the Day 1c Leaderboard
Day 1c of Event #3: The Big 50 - $500 No Limit Hold'em is in the books! Saturday was another big day for an event that’s on pace to break the record for the largest attendance ever for a WSOP event.
All of the initial seats for the flight were sold out before today’s action started at 10 a.m., with late registration becoming available later in the day. The Rio Convention Center was filled to its poker capacity, with all tournament tables full and overflow rooms packed with players for most of Saturday.
- Event #3: BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2c Seat Draw (Pavilion 100-149)
- Event #3: BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2c Seat Draw (Pavilion 150-199)
- Event #3: BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2c Seat Draw (Pavilion 200-299)
- Event #3: BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2c Seat Draw (Pavilion 300-326)
Players grinded through 13 levels on Day 1c, with the day’s chip leaders including names like John Utley (830,000), Joshua Suyat (801,000), WSOP bracelet winner Todd Witteles (664,000), and Kunal Patni (404,000). These players will lead the field that made it through to Day 2c, with the restart scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m.
Other notable players that made it through the flight include WSOP bracelet winner Steve Zolotow (256,000), 2018 WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb (252,000), Aaron Massey (188,000), 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold (135,000) and Allen Kessler (112,000).
The last of the Day 1 flights kicks off Sunday at 10 a.m. with Day 1d, as players will get one more shot to advance to the Day 2 flights. The Day 2 flights (2a, 2b, 2c and 2d) will play through Tuesday, June 4. After those flights are completed, all Day 2 fields will be combined and Day 3 will commence on June 5.
Players in the Big 50 are competing for a $1 million guaranteed first prize, and plenty of notable names showed up Saturday but didn’t make it through Day 1c.
Daniel Negreanu started the day late and busted out just minutes before the end of Level 13. Other notable eliminations on Day 1c included Maria Ho, Melanie Weisner, 15-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer, and high roller fixture Dan Shak.
There were plenty of big names in the huge field for Day 1c, and perhaps some of today’s eliminations will come back and take another shot in Day 1d of The Big 50 on Sunday. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will have all of the action covered, so stay tuned!
| Day 1a entries: | 6,095 |
| Day 1a unique players: | 5,159 |
| Day 1a prize pool: | $2,986,660 |
| Day 1b entries: | 5,972 |
| Day 1b unique players: | 3,784 |
| Day 1b prize pool: | $2,843,780 |
| Day 1c entries: | 7,183 |
| Day 1c unique players: | 3,861 |
| Day 1c prize pool: | $3,375,570 |
| Day 1d entries: | 9,121 |
| Day 1d unique players: | 5,166 |
| Day 1d prize pool: | $4,303,425 |
, the player in the big blind bet 30,000 and Nguyen called. The turn brought the 
, the big blind put another 30,000 in the pot Nguyen raised to 105,000 and the big blind called the additional 75,000.
, and the big blind checked. Nguyen bet 100,000 and got the call, and "The Master" turned over 
for a flopped nut straight. The big blind showed 
, and said "that's why you're the master."
, and his opponent called. Negreanu was on the winning end of a cooler, with his 
beating his opponent's 
. Negreanu's trip jacks with a better kicker puts him in a comfortable position, as he now has more than 50 big blinds in his stack.
flop contained two spades, and everyone checked through to the turn, which was another spade. Lyons bet 27,000, the cutoff called, and Hellmuth called off his last 14,000.
for the nut flush. Hellmuth tabled 
, and was left raising his hands in the air in frustration before silently leaving the table.
turn added a flush draw to Crabb's overcards. Kessler was left shaking his head after the 
flop, and his opponent quickly folded.
, and the under the gun player checked. Canseco put in a continuation bet for 10,000 and got a call, bringing the 
and both players checked, and Canseco showed 